Child trafficking scam: 550 kids disappear into thin air

Friday left the Mumbai police in an eddy of disorientation. An army of 400 officials from the city and railway police had stationed themselves at Borivli and Bandra railway terminuses for a mammoth rescue operation.

They were waiting for a train from Patna to receive around 550 children of a minority community who were reportedly victims of human trafficking. The Government Railway Police (GRP) of Mumbai had received a tip-off earlier that children in the age group of 7-17 years, students of a religious school, were being brought to Mumbai, aboard the Patna-Mumbai BDTS Express Train No 19050, to work as labourers in hotels and other establishments.

So there they were, men in uniform waiting with packets of biscuits and bottles of water, to come to the aid of kids rescued from the clutches of child labour. The train finally arrived, at Borivli at 8.20 am, and later at Bandra at 9.45 am yesterday, the waiting officials got aboard to take charge.But, the train was practically empty. Officials found none of the children they were informed about; there were no more than 10 passengers on the train.

Patil explained they received a message that around 550 juveniles from a local religious school in Akkalkuva in Nandurbar were returning from their hometown after a month-long vacation, and due to a curfew in Nandurbar, their religious teachers sought the police’s help to transport the juveniles safely to their school.

“The request was conveyed to both the GRP and RPF and the express train halted at Dondaicha, where the leaders had arranged for two luxury buses, truck and a tempo to transport the kids.

Those who wanted to continue their journey were made to stay back,” Patil said. “None of the juveniles were carrying any money with them, nor were they accompanied by any family members; the only luggage they had was some clothes; they were escorted by 10-12 men, who claimed to be their teachers,” Patil continued.

Incidentally, the GRP or the RPF did not record the statement of the children, nor did they ask for their contact details.

The men who escorted the kids were not questioned, nor were they asked to furnish identity proof. The official justified the lapse. “Our only concern was to ensure that the juveniles reach their destination (school) safely. Since we did not suspect anything, we assisted the religious teachers.” But the Mumbai GRP is keen to get to the root of the matter; they are waiting for its team to return with a detailed report.

Expertspeak
uSandhya Bajaj, former member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, New Delhi, said, “It is a clear-cut case of violation of child rights.

If the local railway police had assisted in alighting the children, they should have verified the credentials of the men who were escorting them.

The details of the children should have been obtained. A proper report has to be submitted to the local child welfare office.

u”The norms under the Protection of Child Rights Act clearly state that if children are transported in large numbers, they should be divided in groups of 12 to 15, and each group should have an escort.

It is impossible for 12 people to man 550 children. How would the police track the relatives had their been any untoward incident en route?

This is clearly a shoddy work done by the law enforcing agency. A detailed probe should be carried out by the Maharashtra Commission for Protection of Child Rights.”

uIPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh said, “The railway police should have made proper entries and recorded the statement of those escorting the juveniles.

Also, details of the same should be mentioned in the station diary, and a special report should have been sent to the local police headquarters. The matter should be seriously looked into.”